Holy smokes they really are identical (except Laura). Will you put collars on when they’re bigger?
Probably!
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This is a serious question. How does a tiny kitty like Caroline manage to feed those babies so well? I’m sure she’s eating you out of house and home, but as a group they seem to be bigger than she is already!
Honestly, I’m not being glib when I tell you that I have NO IDEA how she’s doing it. And what’s more is that she is actually not eating us out of house and home. She doesn’t really eat that much more than your average (non-nursing) cat – right after the kittens were born, she and Charles were sharing something like 10 3-ounce cans of food per day, plus kibble. Now they’re really only eating about 6 cans between the two of them, and they don’t come close to finishing them off. (I thought it was an issue with the kind of canned food I was offering, and I have tried nearly every single kind of canned food available, from the cheap stuff to the high-end stuff, and she’s happiest with the Fancy Feast kitten pate and adult “grilled” food I’ve been giving her since the beginning.) I’ve been ready and more than willing to supplement feed the kittens if need be – and in fact did supplement Albert for a couple of days earlier this week when he lost a little weight – but the kittens prefer the milk bar, of course.
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And Charles – OMG! I never really thought a daddy cat would be interested in his kittens. Do you think he understands that he’s their Pa? I’m not sure cats are capable of that level of reasoning — or even understand that kittens are the consequence of mating. Or is he just interested because he and Caroline are so bonded?
I suspect he doesn’t really have any idea that they’re his or where they came from, but they’re hers and smell like her, so he looks kindly upon them.
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I’m so glad Caroline and Charles are to be adopted together. Speaking of which, I don’t know much about the chemistry of cats – will having Charles’s pheromones in that close of proximity cause Caroline to go into heat sooner? Again, I don’t know nuthin’ bout birthin’ no nuthin’… and I surely don’t know nuthin’ bout mother nature.
Well, he’s been neutered so I suspect that he won’t have an impact on when she goes into heat (and I don’t know that having an intact male would make a difference anyway), but I honesty don’t know for sure. I’m hoping that we’re able to get her spayed before she goes into heat (fingers crossed!), but only time will tell.
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Albert’s face is cracking me up.
That seems comfy, Caroline.
Of course with that thick, comfy bed in the front of the crate, they’d rather hang out on the bare floor of the crate.
“This IS comfy!” thinks Laura.
“It IS nice and soft!” thinks Willie.
Mary getting pottied. Her FACE.
Willie’s learning to use his legs (they all are!)
Walking practice. (Almanzo on the left, Willie on the right – and Albert in the back, giving me the eye.)
Pa keeps an eye on the kittens.
“That’s right, kid! You’re walking! Go, you!”
Keeping an eye on them from above.
Wednesday at bed time, as I’d been planning, I moved the kittens from the big crate back to the small carrier. Caroline watched, and then she sat and looked back and forth between the carrier and the crate, a question mark practically visible above her head. Then she shrugged and appeared to think no more of it.
An hour or so later, I heard the very distinct sound of a distressed kitten. I looked in via the Nest camera, and found that a little earlier, Almanzo had wandered to the opening of the carrier and sat there looking out. Caroline saw him, walked over, picked him up, and carried him to the crate.
(He’s the heaviest kitten, so she certainly had her work cut out for her. She had to stop several times to reposition her grip on him during the three feet between the carrier and crate, and at one point Charles wandered over to sniff at Almanzo. She finally got Almanzo into the crate, let him nurse for a bit, and then left to go hang out in the middle of the room. It was about 10 minutes later that he realized he was alone and started protesting.)
So I went in and moved the rest of the kittens for her. And they’ve been in the crate ever since. I guess it just took a little time for Caroline to decide that having more room was a good thing. Maybe she just needs time to get used to new situations! (I can relate.) I checked in on them overnight several times, and even with Charles snoozing on top of the crate, Caroline was perfectly fine with the situation. I left the carrier where it was, just in case, but Caroline didn’t even think about moving them back.
The good thing about the big crate is that it’s not as easy for the kittens to accidentally wander out, so they’ll stay contained for a bit longer. I mean, not a LOT longer – I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of them escape the crate in the next week and a half or so, but for now they’re contained.
And now, a video from very early Thursday morning, when Pa came to visit the kittens. I suspect, given the look on his face before he left, that he got a little more than he’d intended, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. (Please note that you can see him on the ham-mick outside the crate at the end. Awww.)
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Deputy Dewey (left) checks in with the Sheriff. “All’s quiet, ma’am!”
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Previously
2018: The side eye I’m getting from her cracks me UP.
2017: He is such the bratty little brother.
2016: Some snackin’ time pictures with the permanent residents.
2015: Weekly Roundup.
2014: Updates on Brolo, Lilybet & Reacher.
2013: Lilybet Entertains a Gentleman Caller.
2012: Emmy’s alien belly, and Emmy has those babies!
2011: Corbie ear floof.
2010: No entry.
2009: “Here, let me get that for you… ::SLURRRRP::”
2008: No entry.
2007: Smackdown Stage 1: The Taunting.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Aw, how sweet are Kara and Dewey!
Tabby babies always make me think of baby bears – that picture of Willie learning to use his legs, and look at those ears!
Daddy Cats often DO know their own and/or if they THINK they are the father they will often accept the kittens you can’t count on it but some Cat Daddies even “co-parent” but most queens are cautious (like Caroline) until the babies are old enough to run away if Daddy (who in a feral colony would be a full tom) is in a bad mood
Also queens can go into heat even when giving birth (we have had this happen) and even get pregnant (which is bad because it is very hard on Mom to carry a litter and nurse at the same time – good thing Charles was already neutered so this was not a worry even if she had called and “presented” while in labor which I have seen happen)
Charles is going to be an amazingly cute Cat Daddy in about a week when the kittens start to really get social.
Charles might stick to ear cleaning from now on.
This is gonna be a fun ride!!! Wondering, how male lions will kill the offspring of other lion cubs, I sure hope he understands they are his. Which he seems to understand completely.
Thank you again Robyn for so much kitten and cat (perms) fun!
Fancy Feast – I love it! My mom’s Emily’s favorite for years was a particularly disgusting looking and smelling variety I called sardines in snot. I don’t remember the actual name but wow that stuff grossed me right out. But she loved it, so I dealt with it when I had to.
The cuteness of these kittens has been helping me a lot through a difficult patch at work. 🙂
10 3-oz cans??!? are you serious? how are you not using larger cans than that? do you at least have a pop top can opener thingy to save your joints??
And cats go into heat because of daylight. I forced Butters into heat by leaving the lights on for two days.. fakey Mcfakerson wasn’t giving me kittens and I wanted proof.. (okay, fine, it wasn’t anything near that calculated, I was feeling bad that she was stuck in the dark for 14 hours a day in the basement, in winter, in a bathroom, I thought she might like some light)
Fancy Feast doesn’t make larger cans (at least not that I can find), and that’s all Her Highness wants!
(Pardon me while I go lock Caroline in a dark room for the next two months.)(I kid, of course.)